QUESTION
Select a crisis or issue from an Asian country. How was the crisis/issue handled and represented by the government or corporation? Who were the publics that needed to be communicated with? What were the responses/information/messages given by the government/corporation and were they appropriate and effectively aligned with the needs and characteristics of the publics? How did the media represent the crisis or issue? What does it tell us about the agenda-setting strategies of the parties involved?
NOTE: Please focus in answering the question.
Requests:
Both the essay and the report should conform to general standards of presentation. The correct title should appear on the first page, all pages to be numbered, and submissions must be properly referenced (use Harvard system as demonstrated in the School of Cultural and Communication Essay Writing Guide) and must therefore include a full list of references of all published works cited. Essays should be word-processed (double-spaced lines).
SOLUTION
1. Abstract
The Lokpal Bill is a continuous issue prevailing in the Indian Legislative Council for adherence for over forty years since 1968, but it has never passed the consensus of the Indian Parliament. It took a veteran social activist Anna Hazare to awaken the masses of the nation to stand united and become a part of the movement called ‘India Against Corruption (IAC) by going on a hunger strike which propagated widespread protests by the citizens of the nation and resulted in the government constituting a ten member joint committee of ministers and the civil society to draft an effective Jan Lokpal Bill- which is still in debate.
2. Introduction
India has been in the media for all the wrong reasons first it was the ‘Common Wealth games scam’, then came the ‘IPL scam’, then the ‘2G scam’….the list seems to go on. Witnessing so much corruption being unearthed one after the other leaves the viewer baffled as to how a democracy could endure such a high level of proliferation slip through under their very noses and why are the citizens sitting quietly and letting their invested revenue in social funds be depleted in the name of national development.
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So, where did all the money go? Who are responsible for these scams? Is there a solution to this continuous proliferation of public funds? The questions seem endless and the answers are scarce. Some thousands of crores of rupees is what the nation is asking the current government to give details about. The government claims to have invested all this money for national development, but the people are not blind and can evaluate the escalated costs the government is trying to project. And finally, the citizens are ready for an uprising to put a stop to all this and clean the nation of all the malpractices which entitles it to a corrupt nation.
The world witnessed uproar of the largest kind since the nation’s fight for independence in the form of a collective union of the citizens of India uniting to put forth the message of eradication of corruption at all the levels of the society including the public services and private corporations. Under the leadership of Dr. Kisan Baburao Hazare, popularly known as Anna Hazare, recipient of Padma Bhushan and the activist behind the Right to Information Act coming into being; the whole nation stood united and supported him in his hunger strike until the government agreed to the nation’s demand for the Lokpal Bill to come into existence.
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He categorically defined the flaws in the current Lokpal bill which is on the legislative table for the past forty years and still has not been passed by our elected representatives. A number of governments have been in power since, but none of them wanted to tackle with this particular act being put into practice. But the nation now has experienced a metaphorical change with the current youth population more aware and demanding and they are justified in demanding a nation rid of all malpractices and will go to any extent to achieve their demand of a clean India.
3. Lokpal vs. Jan Lokpal
The current version of the Lokpal Bill being considered in the legislative assemblies do not entitle any power to either initiate any action or even receive complaints of corruption from any public domain which makes the Bill useless in the opinion of the public. They however want full powers to initiate investigations against all corrupt practices in the country by directly entertaining complaints from the public by advocating the new revised Jan Lokpal Bill.
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Furthermore, the government proposed Lokpal Bill views the Lokpal to be an advisory body and just forward the received complaints to the concerned departments for further action without itself having the powers to register any FIRs or police complaints. It does not even give the Lokpal any right to investigate against the bureaucrats and government officials and also the Prime Minister who directly deals with foreign affairs, security and defence; each entitling him to dispense off large amounts of national revenue. The public however stand united against this issue and support the Jan Lokpal Bill which categorically brings all citizens of this country under the same scanner of scrutiny.
To re-establish the link with the government bodies, Former justice of the Supreme Court, N.S. Hegde and Prashant Bhusan, a senior advocate in the Supreme Court along with eminent members of the IAC movement drafted the Jan Lokpal Bill which substantiates the demands of the united citizens of the country and contradicts any loopholes viewed in the application of the Bill as soon as possible.
However the talks related with the adoption of the Jan Lokpal Bill failed on two key issues related with the chairmanship of the Lokpal and his concerned powers as well as the notification of the Bill stating whom all to cover under the scrutiny of the Act.
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The citizens of the country stand together and claim that their fight is not against the government since the demand for a corruption free nation is justified and there can be no compromise on the concerned issue. Every Indian wants this Bill to be brought into practice and even the other political parties are backing the IAC in this issue.
4. Analysis: Handling and Representation
The ex-secretary General of the United Nations described corruption as a disingenuous plague which is corrosive to the society which not only debilitates democracy, disables the rule of the law, propagates violation of human rights, deforms markets, but also disintegrates the quality of life and acquiesce crime, terrorism and other injustices to humanity UNCAC(2003).
This evil phenomenon is omnipresent everywhere in the world and has catastrophic results most of all in the developing countries. Corruption debilitates the society by diverting the nation’s acquired capital and disrupting the government’s strategies in providing basic services, eradicating inequality and injustice and discouraging foreign investments and economic aids. Corruption is the key ingredient in economic instability and plays a major part in hindering poverty alleviation and development Anan, (2003).
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The Lokpal Bill was formed on the proposed findings of the Prevention of Corruption Act Santhanam Commitee, (1966).It included all the political parties to include their proposals in their election manifesto, but none did. Hence, in 2004 the current Prime Minister Dr, Manmohan Singh was apprised with the gravity of the issue ; upon which he deliberated a rapid action on the Bill- which till date is in a volatile state between the legislative annexure.
The preamble of this Convention was adopted by India on October 31st, 2003 due to the concerns relating to the gravity of the conundrum and the threats the corruption posed to the stability, ingenuity and stability of the nation. Corruption was not only an issue eroding the security of the society but also undermining the significance of democracy, ethical standards towards justice and jeopardizing institutions of law.
Vohra, (1993) explained the serious effects of corruption in India and state the nexus between criminal outfits, police, politicians and various levels of bureaucracy which defunct the justice system and provided impunity to illegal syndicates and mafias.
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With time, corruption has gained unimaginable proportions which fail to get tackled by the anti- corruption institutions. To effectively tackle this menace, each state party in India has been advised to grant their respective anti- corruption units the freedom within the rules of the nation’s legal system to operate against the corruption devices Corruption Act, (1988).
Therefore, a Bill was advocated to establish an independent authority which was authorized to detect corruption through diligent investigations and could prosecute offenders, thereby ensuring timely expiation of related public grievances and provide security to whistleblowers.
The acts of corruption included any offence committed by any citizens including elected members of a house of legislature. It included a Lokpal Bench of two or more members acting in unison upon any matter in correspondence with the regulatory system and would be backed by a member with an appropriate legal background who will observe the adherence of the Bill under all circumstances and thereby ensure lawful decorum in the state.
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The public authority under taking the responsibility of the Bill either through the status of constitution, Parliament or the state legislature are further given the powers to redress the grievances and propose adequate penalties on the offenders through means of dismissal, removal, reduction in rank, appropriate jail term and even monetary fine Shah & Nayak, (2011).
The prescribed provisions of this Bill shall hold autonomous substantiality notwithstanding any concurrence with any provisional act o r law and act repugnant in consideration to any other law thereby stated or amended.
5. Establishment and Effectiveness
The Central Government by virtue of effectiveness is required to establish a firm independent of administrative, financial and functional directives from the government. It is proposed to hold a committee of ten members under the guidance of a chairperson appointed by the President on the recommendation of a selection committee and further be backed by a four member legal team with an experience for minimum ten years in an established judicial office.
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The nominations of the members will be considered upon the impeccable integrity and service record and would be interlaid with all details of his work record and public services. These nominations would be displayed on web sites inviting comments from the public forum to decide upon the suitability of the candidate. These comments and information would be taken into consideration and through general consensus, the candidates would be shortlisted.
The shortlisted candidates thereafter will be appointed as members of the committee and will serve the Bill for a term of five years, with a salary equal to that of the Chief Justice of India for the chairperson and the other members would receive salaries equal to the judges of the Supreme Court respectively.
Further the Lokpal shall appoint a Secretary to the Lokpal with the rank of Secretary to the Government of India, who shall be competent to authorize all orders passed by the Lokpal.
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6. Role of the Media
The media in the issue of the national uprising and the Lokpal Bill fervor has played a very crucial role in shaping and directing the angry masses of the country towards a healthy and contained democratic atmosphere. It made the nation aware of the correct social, political and economical activities occurring in the nation by mirroring the events in the correct and chronological order; thereby maintaining strict professional protocols in portraying the bare truths without blowing them out of proportion and further agitating the masses into large scale national debacles.
The media constantly maintained contact between the people, protestors and the government officials dealing with the urgency of the matter. It was a media initiative that the people all across the nation were kept abreast with the situations unfolding in the capital city of India- New Delhi where all the action was taking place.
Not only did the media bring forth the opinions of the concerned officials dealing with the issue but also encouraged the common man to speak his mind infront of the millions of viewers glued to their television screens. They efficiently channelised debates and talks which clarified and rectified the situation in the implications and solutions required for the Bill to be successfully passed.
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7. Conclusion
The Jan Lokpal Bill is an independently proposed anti- corruption Act being proposed by the citizens of India who have awakened to the flaws of the corrupt government and have united to fight against the corruption in the country by joining an autonomous self-organized movement called India Against Corruption under the leadership of a veteran Gandhian Anna Hazare who through his Gandhian methods of fasting and peaceful processions not only has united the nation on a single platform against corruption but also brought the current government onto its knees for acknowledging the power of the people.
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8. References
Anan, K. (2003) UN Convention against Corruption. United Nations.
Legislation of India. (1988). Prevention of corruption act. Govt. of India.
Jan Lokpal Bill (2011). Statement of Objects and Reasons. Available at: www.Bareactsonline.com [October 17th, 2011]
Santhanam Committee. (1966). Prevention of Corruption Act. Government of India.
Shah, A.P. and Nayak, V. (2011). Issues for consideration and recommendations for improvement. The Jan Lokpal Bill
Tehelka (2010). Draft Lokpal Bill, 2010.Available at: www.tehelka.com. [October 17th, 2011]
UNCAC (2003). Article 6(2). United Nations Convention against Corruption.
Vohra, N.N. (1993) N N Vohra Committee Report. Government of India.
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